


Missed Connections (aka Tony’s Adventures in College Dating)

by Neverever



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crush at First Sight, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:29:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1815301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Busy at college and frustrated with his father, Tony sees Steve across a crowded hallway and life is never the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fall Semester, Sophomore Year

**Author's Note:**

> Big big thanks to my beta who is willing to read this through even though it's not her favorite AU.

The universe was conspiring to kill him, Tony thought. Despite falling asleep at 4 in the morning over his latest robot schematics, he still had to get up in time to bring Pepper her I’m-sorry-for-barfing-all-over-your-rug coffee. Or else she would make him pay in ways that he would truly and deeply regret. Coffee in hand, he raced across campus to find her after class. Because of course, she had an obscenely early Intro to Psych class on Tuesday mornings at 9. And Tony had a ton of unfinished homework due in his other classes. “Damn it,” he swore as he tripped on the granite steps leading to Pepper’s classroom, nearly spilling Pepper’s coffee all over himself. Yep -- the universe really did have it in for him.

Resentful and bleary-eyed, he arrived just as her class was ending and students were streaming out of the lecture hall on their way to somewhere else. Pepper snatched the coffee out of his hands gratefully. As Pepper thanked him profusely for the coffee, Tony glanced around the hallway full of students.

Right on cue, as if he was living in a bad romantic movie, the heavens opened up and a single beam of light shone on a tall blond man in a blue and white t-shirt with a red backpack thrown over one shoulder. He laughed and clapped the shoulder of one of his friends. That’s all. But it was magical, and the man was vibrant and glowing, and fluid in the way he moved. Tony’s heart started to pound, and he was aware of nothing except this angel fallen to earth in front of him. 

Suddenly, Tony blinked and the man was gone. What the hell? Where did he go?

“... so, anyway, Jan is planning another party,” Pepper continued as she checked out her phone.

“Uh, Jan, yeah,” Tony replied distractedly as he craned his neck looking for Angelic Hot Guy. “Next week, yeah?”

“I think she wants to hold it at our apartment. Rhodey hates the idea already.”

“Rhodey can be bribed.” Tony was always down for a party. Jan’s parties were legendary. They had barely cleaned the place up after her Welcome Back party at their apartment two weeks ago. But Tony had more important business at hand. “Hey, Pepper, there was this guy here. The most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen. From your class. He was just standing here a second ago. Tall, blond, male model type. Had a red backpack.”

Giving a quick look around the rapidly emptying hallway, Pepper shook her head. “There's more than a hundred students in this section of Psych. I couldn’t even guess who he is with that vague a description.”

Tony sighed in frustration. He just had to find that guy. Somehow, someway, and soon.

~~~~~

Yinsen pushed the advising form back across the wooden desk to Tony. “You have to take two more gen ed requirements. No exceptions.”

“If I’d gone to MIT, I wouldn’t have to be wasting my time on these Mickey Mouse classes,” Tony promptly replied. The fact that his father had brutally ended all of his elaborate plans for MIT and a Cambridge party pad still grated on Tony’s nerves nearly two years later. All par for the course for Tony -- from the minute he could walk, every little opportunity for freedom from Howard Stark was snatched away and Tony sharply reminded of his place in the Stark hierarchy. 

“But you didn’t, and Grayburn requires gen eds,” the courtly older man replied. He took off his wire-frame glasses and carefully began to polish the lenses with his handkerchief.

Tony slumped in his chair. “What are my options?” Tony had a heavy load of upper-level engineering, math and physics classes for the semester even though he was only a sophomore. And he was perfectly happy with the arrangement. He looked at his schedule. “I only have Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 free.”

Yinsen checked his computer. “Ethics or Pottery 101.”

Pottery? Tony shuddered. Sounded like a hippie-dippy nightmare to him. “Ethics -- Philosophy, right? Writing intensive too. Okay. I guess I'll do that,” Tony said reluctantly.

“Before you go --” his advisor said as Tony attempted to flee. Tony dropped back into the chair. Yinsen adjusted his glasses and then peered at Tony. “Tony, as your advisor, I am concerned about the amount of time you are spending in the labs here among other things.”

“You know, I’ve got a lot of work to do on your grant project and then --”

“You fell asleep while welding. Which is a hazard and could get you suspended from the lab.”

“Gotcha -- no more welding while napping. No problem. Is that all?”

Then Yinsen frowned a little. “The Conduct Office sent me a notice that you were found passed out in the Quad area near the west campus apartments.”

Tony sat up straighter in his chair. Damn the Conduct Office and the campus cops who found him. He defiantly looked Yinsen in the eye. “That’s none of your business.”

“It is while you are a student here,” Yinsen replied kindly. “Tony, just be careful with the drinking and the partying. You have a whole life ahead of you, you don’t need to pick up habits that could undermine what you want to do with it. Plus, you do want to get out of here as soon as you can, right?”

Tony grumbled, “Yeah. Fine. Got it.” He jumped to his feet and grabbed his leather messenger bag, free at last.

~~~~~

All his friends said that Tony might as well take up residence in the little coffee shop on the edge of campus. He stopped in all the time on way to campus or back to his off-campus apartment. This afternoon, he waited impatiently in a long line with Pepper as she texted her art history study group. “So you really don’t care that I’m being forced to take an elective,” Tony whined.

Pepper had heard for the past half hour about Tony having to take a non-science class. “Nope, I really don’t. Just deal with it, Tony. Anyway, it’s past the add/drop date. Ethics can’t be that bad.” 

Tony frowned and shuffled forward as the line moved. “I don’t need philosophy classes – I’m an engineer and I’m going to run Stark Industries.”

“What are your other options?”

“Options?" Tony thought fleetingly of the dreaded pottery clay-molding class. "I always have options.” Then he admitted, “But Yinsen said I only have to do a couple more gen ed requirements after this semester if I take this class. So a little pain now …”

“Hey, Tony, Pepper!” Clint the barista greeted them. “The usual?”

Tony nodded. “Of course.”

“Extra large?”

“You bet,” Tony said. Pepper decided to order something different, no doubt full of chocolate, sugar and whipped cream. She asked Clint how his classes were going and if he was coming to Jan’s party that Saturday.

While they were talking, someone getting up from a table attracted Tony’s eye. Looking over he saw Hot Guy, bussing his empty tray. He paused at the doorway to stuff a notebook into his red backpack. Tony began to step away from the counter to talk to him, but Clint called out, “Tony, you gonna pay for the coffee?”

“In a minute, Clint,” Tony tossed over his shoulder. But when he turned back, The Guy was gone. 

Pepper asked, “What’s the matter, Tony?”

“The Guy was here, just here a second ago,” he replied, bewildered.

Then someone snapped, “Hey, we’re all waiting here. Get a move on.”

Tony opened his mouth for a sarcastic retort, but Pepper shoved his coffee into his hand and tugged him away from the counter. “If he comes here again, I'm sure you’ll run into him,” she said encouragingly.

~~~~~

Two weeks’ worth of camping out after Pepper’s class and lying in wait at the coffee shop didn’t bring him any answers. He never saw The Guy again. Tony had tried to develop a search algorithm to crawl through the university website and other places to locate his mystery student, but there were a surprising number of tall, light-haired hot guys in the world. And he couldn’t really describe the guy much more than blond, built, and amazing.

He parked himself in a seat before the start of his late Wednesday afternoon class, affectionately dubbed Even More Math Theory. Bruce slid into the seat next to him, wearing clothes snagged out of the laundry hamper and a spectacular bedhead. 

“Lab tonight?” he asked Tony.

“You bet. You bring the pizza and I’ll have the coffee.” Bruce, his science bestie, had been his partner in crime since Tony tripped over him in a hallway during finals his first semester at college and they wound up talking about particle physics.

The professor rapped on the podium to start class. “Let’s review today’s assignment.”

Tony quickly grew bored as the other students asked useless, unnecessary questions. He glanced over at Bruce, who was surfing on his phone and looked equally bored. He texted Bruce about a party on Thursday, but Bruce replied he wasn’t going. Tony rolled his eyes. Seriously? It wasn’t a big thing -- just some people he knew in an on-campus apartment hosting a beer-pong party before midterms started.

The professor outlined math problems on the whiteboard while Tony’s thoughts drifted to The Guy. He had no words to describe the flutter in his stomach as he recalled watching The Guy tip his head laughing at something. And the graceful economy of his movements. The image was burned into Tony’s memory, and he couldn’t shake it out. He wondered what it would be like to kiss him, or what it would feel like to be held by him, as The Guy pushed him up against the wall to capture his lips, his hands moving a little lower and .... 

“Stark. Stark!” the professor called out. “Board, please.” Shaking his head free of his thoughts, Tony sauntered to the front of the class and solved the problem in a second or two with a flurry of marker. He smirked at the groans from the other students. Yeah, he was that good. 

~~~~~

Clint gave Tony a lead on a woman trying to unload her Ethics books. He had put off buying the books as long as possible, thinking he could find an ebook version if he needed it. No such luck for half the required reading, and he had an essay exam coming up the next day. Clint had suggest that he bluff his way through it. But Tony had pride in his academics. 

The woman, Sharon, opened her dorm room door when Tony arrived. Tony was taken aback slightly by her no-nonsense attitude while she showed him the books.

“Are these from this semester?” Tony asked, paging through one. Her room was unbelievably neat for a college student, with a made bed, clean desk and not one bit of clutter. Over her desk was a collection of photographs of people around campus.

“Yeah. I dropped the class but the bookstore won’t take the books back,” she replied, tucking a dark-blonde strand of hair behind one ear. “I’m changing my major to Criminal Justice and had a conflict.”

Tony handed over the money for the books. As he picked up the books, Tony caught sight of a framed photograph on the dresser near the door. It was a group photo of Sharon and a few other people, including the Hot Guy he’d been looking for since September. “Nice picture."

“Just me and some of my friends.”

“I think I know the blond guy –“

“Steve?” Sharon said with a laugh. “Yeah, he knows everyone.”

Before he could ask another question, Sharon’s phone rang and she shrugged apologetically and walked him to the door. “Sorry, Tony, I have to get this. Thanks."

Tony now had his textbooks, but more importantly he finally had a name for Hot Guy. _Steve_.

~~~~~

“All I want is a last name, is that so hard?” Tony complained to Pepper. “Sharon won’t answer my texts, something about me getting stalkerish and protecting her friends. Like sending a few dozen requests for her friend’s name is stalking. How can I stalk someone when I don’t even have their full name? Is second-hand stalking a thing now?” He was sprawled on the living room couch, surrounded by his laptop, books, and papers covered in physics problems and half-scrawled code. 

Pepper was working on a class presentation on the other side of the room. “Tony, I don’t know what to say. You know his name is Steve at least, that he's a student here, and you’ve seen him around.” She glared at Tony as she set a book down. “I have to get this presentation done for class tomorrow …”

He ignored her as he started tossing a wadded-up piece of paper into the air. “He’s not online anywhere, no Instagram, Twitter or even a Facebook page. I’ve tried another search algorithm -- which turned up nothing, except the fact that Steve is a more common name on this campus than I realized.” He rolled his eyes. “Good thing he’s not a Matt or Tyler or Josh -- I’d be in real trouble.”

“Tony,” she groaned. “I can usually put up with your unique brand of crazy. But, you’ve been obsessing over a guy you’ve seen twice in two months.”

He caught the wad of paper in his hand. “He was gorgeous, Pepper. I haven’t seen anyone like him. Ever.”

“So the models you spent last Spring Break with don’t count?”

He smiled at the memory. “Nope, not in the least.”

Pepper started gathering her books, papers, and notes. “Someday you’re going to meet Steve, and he’ll turn out to be a huge disappointment because you’ve built him up so much in your mind.”

“All I’ve said that he is gorgeous.”

“And you think he is also smart, funny, dresses sharply, is majoring in marketing or finance, works out, is a bad boy who loves to party and is currently single. That he has very wealthy parents who live in Boston and a brother and sister who are still in high school and they summer in Italy. And he is simply perfection,” she said pointedly.

“Fine. Maybe you have a point,” he spat out. He sighed and changed the subject. “So what are you going as to the Halloween party this weekend? And what are you doing?”

Pepper gathered a jacket and her keys. “I’m going to the library since I have to get this presentation done. I care about my grades even if you don’t.”

“I care!” Tony insisted. “It’s just that other things are important too.” Like Steve.

~~~~~

Tony was debating which hoodie would work best for a last-minute zombie costume for that night’s Halloween party when his phone rang. Then he recognized his father’s ringtone, which immediately ruined his good mood. He had put off talking to his dad for too long, so he reluctantly picked up the phone.

“Thanksgiving in New York this year,” his father said. The noise in the background indicated he was calling from his convertible. “And Christmas in Malibu -- you should get your ticket.”

Apparently Tony didn’t rate the corporate jet. “Uh, Dad, I was thinking I’d stay here for winter break and work in the lab. I’ve been talking to a few of the professors here and they think I could transfer next year to MIT with no problem. Maybe even jump ahead to senior year.”

“What did your mother and I tell you about MIT? It's not a good idea, Tony. Boston is too great a temptation -- we don’t want to read about you on the internet every morning. We said the same thing about Stanford and CalTech. Grayburn is an excellent school -- in rural area and no paparazzi. And we want you home for winter break too.”

“But, Dad, I’m bored in all my classes. I’m already doing senior level work. And my advisor is making me take a class on World War II history next semester.” Tony hated the begging whiny tone in his voice.

“As long as I’m paying for college, Tony, you'll have to do as I say. See you in a few weeks.”

The line went dead and Tony threw the phone across the room. His father was completely insufferable and dead wrong. He hated how his options were limited as long as Howard paid his bills and kept him on an allowance. A rather generous allowance, Tony admitted, but it still made him feel like a dog kept on a leash. 

After Howard’s comments on the paparazzi, Tony now wanted to go to the party decked out only in strategically arranged dental floss. But he ended up raiding Pepper’s makeup and going as an half-assed zombie in a dark hoodie, determined to get as drunk as possible and end up in someone’s bed. With pictures everywhere his father might find them. He set off with Rhodey and Jan for a night to remember.

A few hours later, thoroughly drunk and not completely aware of his surroundings, Tony tried to make his way out of the bathroom. He leaned against his newest, bestest friend in the whole world, the cold, tiled wall. He could stay here awhile, maybe all night. The wall loved him even if no one else did. Then he felt hands on his shoulder and heard a warm baritone voice saying, “You don’t look so well. Where are your friends?”

“Somewhere,” Tony slurred. For all he knew and cared they could be in Antarctica. With the penguins. He snickered.

The voice spoke again, “Come on, why don’t we go find them.” The hands were gentle as the man urged Tony up from the wall. He put his arm around Tony’s shoulder and propped him up. Tony felt warm against the firm chest of his rescuer. 

Tony slipped in and out of consciousness as he was maneuvered through the dense crowd. Lights and noise flashed by him as he floated through, held up by a strong arm. They came to a stop. “I think your friend needs help,” the low, warm voice said.

He heard Jan say something but she was a blur. She put her hand on his arm. “Tony? Yeah, Hank, we have to take Tony home ….”

His rescuer handed him over to Jan’s boyfriend Hank, who stumbled a little under his weight. Tony twisted in Hank’s grip to take a closer look at the man. All he could see were deep blue eyes. “Pretty,” Tony cooed. Those eyes, that hair -- it all meant something important that Tony couldn’t quite figure out. 

“Come on, Tony, time to head home,” Jan said encouragingly.

Late the next day, Tony lay in bed trying to remember how he had earned his terrible headache. He pieced together parts of the evening, up to when he was rescued from the bathroom. A memory of a warm voice, gentle hands and deep blue eyes surfaced out of his murky mind. 

_Steve_. It had been the mysterious Steve who had found him. 

Cursing, he rushed to fix his broken phone to call Jan. “Jan, did that guy Steve say anything last night?” Tony begged over the phone held together by duct tape and a paper clip.

She sighed. “Nothing. Except that he hoped you would feel okay in the morning.”

“That’s it? No name, no phone number, nothing?”

“Tony, he found you in a bathroom. It wasn’t a phone number exchanging event or anything.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it. “Fine,” he hissed. “I’ve only been trying to find Steve for the past two months.”

“Oh, he was The Guy? Really?” Jan asked excitedly. “Well if I had known that, I would have gotten his number for you.”

“Too late now,” he muttered. He fell back into the bed and groaned. 

~~~~~

Thanksgiving went about as well as Tony expected. He drove down to the family apartment in Manhattan, dropping Pepper off at her cousin’s on his way. He managed to be presentable at dinner with his father’s business partners and their families. And he was beyond grateful when he was invited out to a club the next night. Even if his father glared at him in disapproval when he returned the next morning, disheveled and smelling faintly of smoke and alcohol. The rest of the weekend passed by tensely until Tony was free to flee back to campus.

Grumpy and miserable, Tony dropped by the rec center looking for Rhodey. He found him standing by the elliptical machines, talking to his ROTC buddy Carol, dressed in an Air Force t-shirt and grey sweatpants. “Hi,” Tony mumbled.

They talked about their upcoming weekend plans and Finals. As Tony tried to convince Carol to join him and Rhodey for dinner, Steve, of all people, walked by. Tony’s breath caught in his throat. The man was unbelievably attractive. As gorgeous as the first time Tony had seen him, with his bright blue eyes and blond hair. And Steve’s sweat-soaked t-shirt clung to his body in ways that left nothing to the imagination.

“Packing it in already, Steve?” Carol teased.

Laughing, Steve walked over, slinging a towel around his neck. “You know me, Carol. A five-minute workout and I’m done for,” he deadpanned. Tony couldn’t rip his eyes away from the man who clearly worked out regularly.

“You’ve met my friend Rhodey before, I think, and this is his friend Tony Stark. Tony, Steve Rogers.”

“Hey, Rhodey. Tony,” Steve said. Tony shivered slightly as Steve smiled at him with his beautiful eyes sparkling. 

“Look, Tony and I are going to get dinner, want to come?” Rhodey offered. Tony decided he was going to buy Rhodey whatever he wanted for the next five Christmases just for asking.

Steve sighed. “Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got a pile of work, then I’m meeting up with some friends later. Raincheck?”

“Sure, anytime.”

“Steve, wait and I’ll go back to the dorm with you,” Carol jumped up to run after Steve. “Later, Rhodey.”

God, Steve looked even more amazing as he walked away, Tony thought. As soon as they were out of earshot, he hit Rhodey on the arm. “You didn’t tell me that you knew Steve. I’ve been trying to find him for the past three months.”

“In my defense, I don’t really know Steve – I’ve seen him in the gym, and Carol knows him for some reason. I didn’t know he was the guy you were looking for,” his friend shot back.

“Come on, Rhodey. How many tall, hot, blond guys named Steve are at this school? Seriously.”

Rhodey rubbed the back of his neck. “A lot? I don’t know – I don’t think of Steve as hot, Tony. Plus you were kind of vague about it.” 

Tony’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “It’s not like I haven’t talked enough about Steve! You know Pepper’s banned me from even mentioning his name again in the apartment. Unless I’ve actually had coffee with him or something.”

“Now’s your chance,” Rhodey suggested.

~~~~~

But the end of semester rush of studying, class projects and finishing up a monster paper for Ethics got in Tony’s way of hunting Steve up again. Then Yinsen insisted on seeing him before the last week of classes.

Desperate for coffee before his meeting with Yinsen, Tony dashed into the graduate student office lounge near his advisor’s office. Everyone knew that grad students lived on coffee and pain and suffering. Then the coffee maker crapped out in the middle of brewing a pot.

Tony had a few minutes so he started to dismantle the coffee maker. Jane, a first-year astrophysics graduate student, came in and plopped into a chair. “What are you doing?”

“Fixing the coffee machine. I have no idea why you guys put up with this piece of junk for so long. But it’s going to run much better now.”

Jane side-eyed the disassembled coffee maker. “Are you sure?”

“I can fix anything. That’s what I do,” Tony reassured her. 

“It didn’t seem all that bad,” Jane observed. “And we were fine with it.”

“Ugh. It’s your poor taste in coffee. Not my problem.” Tony wrinkled his nose as he found the trouble. He rolled the screwdriver back and forth in his hand, then dove into fix it.

Yinsen appeared at the door. “Tony,” he said sharply. “Did you forget?”

Forget? Tony couldn’t remember what Yinsen was talking about. He turned to Jane, who shrugged. 

“You had an appointment to meet with me?” Yinsen asked. 

Tony groaned. “I’m almost done here, Professor. I’ll be there in a minute.”

In Yinsen’s office, Tony slid guiltily onto the plain wooden chair Yinsen had for his students. They talked about Tony’s independent study for next semester and his petition for taking an additional class. “So, Professor, I was thinking that I could work with the post-docs during winter break, doing their coding and running tests, fixing lab equipment, that sort of thing,” Tony suggested. “It’s not like I’m living in the dorms, so I’ve got a place to stay. And Hank said he could use the help.”

Yinsen shook his head. “Tony, you should spend the break with your family. Maybe we could talk about the summer when you’re back. But you can’t work here during the break.”

In the hallway, Tony banged the back of his head against the wall and groaned in frustration. Tony had made so many plans to stay over the winter break. He really didn’t want to be stuck in Malibu with Howard if he could help it. He’d have to work on Pepper or Rhodey for a place to stay.

“Hey, Tony, want to see the mess Hank made in the lab? He blew up an experiment,” Bruce said cheerfully as he passed by.

Hank could be a disaster in the lab, Tony thought with a smile. “Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Maybe Bruce would have a good suggestion for how he could avoid going home.

~~~~~

After the end of finals, Jan threw her largest party yet at her boyfriend’s two-story condo. Rhodey and Tony showed up fashionably late with beer and a bag of potato chips as requested. Jan greeted them. “I passed my exams!” she shouted happily over the loud, thumping music. 

“Congratulations!” Tony shouted back. “Pepper said she was sorry she couldn’t come. She got an early ride home.”

“Oh, too bad. Go on and take the beer to the kitchen,” Jan replied.

The condo quickly filled up with students happy to be done with finals and studying. Tony lost track of how much he had to drink. Especially after he lost a couple of games of beer pong to Clint, who played like he was going to the beer pong olympics. And then a red-headed woman came over and started to give Clint a run for his money at the table. 

Steve appeared out of nowhere, sliding into a spot next to Tony. “He’s still going to win in the end, Natasha,” he said. “Hi. Tony, right?”

Tony glanced over at the tall Steve, who was so close he was brushing up against Tony. He felt a little dizzy from the brief touch, dazzled by Steve’s blue eyes and bright smile. Worse, he found himself at a complete loss for words. Then the crowd shouted as Clint started pitching the ping pong ball perfectly into each cup. Clint gave everyone a round of high-fives and taunted the next player. Tony turned to finally say something to Steve. But Steve was gone.

That’s how the whole damn party went for the next two hours. In a three-bedroom, two-story condo, he couldn’t see Steve anywhere. Tony kept drinking and trying to find an angle to approach Steve. If he could find him. Tony didn’t know how anyone could could lose a six foot, two inch blond Adonis at a party except for himself, and his luck was as rotten as usual.

Some time later, now heavily buzzed, he found Steve pouring himself a soft drink in a surprisingly empty kitchen. Steve recapped the soda bottle and returned it to a table covered with several kinds of alcohol. His blue sweater and worn jeans accented all his best attributes. Especially those jeans, which clung just right to the national treasure that was Steve’s ass. Excitement, desire and nervousness washed over Tony. Biting his lip, he knew he would never have a better chance to bag Steve.

Overwhelmed and feeling that he couldn’t fail now, Tony tried his best seductive smile as he sidled up to Steve. “Hey there, Hot Stuff,” he said suggestively as he lurched forward. Or as suggestively as he could while drunk.

Blasted by Tony’s alcohol breath, Steve hastily took a step back. “Um, hi, Tony,” he replied warily.

Tony reached out to paw Steve’s arm. Steve stepped back again, looking increasingly alarmed. “Nice arm,” Tony said.

“Um, thanks? Where’s Rhodey? He's probably looking for you.” 

“God, that blue sweater makes your eyes even bluer, you know,” Tony slurred a little. A little voice warned Tony to back off because he was sounding creepy. But after finally finding his object of desire for the whole semester alone in the kitchen, Tony wasn’t about to give up now.

Looking deeply uncomfortable, Steve tried to step further away from Tony, but he was now backed up against the cabinets. Tony planted his hand on the counter, knocking over a few empty beer bottles, and leaned up against Steve. The scent of soap and aftershave and Steve filled his senses. Losing all semblance of suaveness and restraint, Tony blurted out, “You look great. And I’m fantastic in bed. Let’s fuck.” 

Taking a deep breath, Steve said, “Um, no. Let’s not.” He took a step to the side to get around Tony and started towards the kitchen door.

“Why?” Tony asked confused as he followed Steve. The warning bell in his mind started to ring louder. But he sensed that Steve was slipping away. He couldn’t let that happen.

Steve stopped at the door. “You’re really drunk, Tony. You should find go find your friends,” Steve said firmly. Then he left. 

While Steve didn’t leave the party immediately, he managed to stay as far away from Tony as he could in the condo. Tony could see him just at the edge of his sight. It probably didn’t help that Tony drank more once it dawned on him that he had pissed off Steve. Rhodey found him curled up on the floor of Hank’s bedroom.

Two days later, Tony was on a plane to the beach house in Malibu feeling miserable for himself. He had clearly blown it with Steve. His plans to stay at college or go somewhere else over the winter break had fallen through. Yinsen, Rhodey and Pepper had all told him "no" in no uncertain terms. Now he had to spend four weeks with his parents, with no Pepper, no Rhodey, and no workshop. Tony resisted adding "no Steve," determined not to revisit that humiliation.

At least it would be warm in California, for what it was worth, Tony sighed. College sucked.


	2. Spring Semester, Sophomore Year

Tony raced to his History class. He had nearly forgotten about it, and he had already missed the first class. Before the spring semester had started, he had fought all the way up to the Provost about having to take his remaining gen ed requirements. In response he had been told that even the great Tony Stark had to take gen eds, no exception. Knowing he was going to be late, he had a plan. He’d sneak into a back door to the lecture hall and no one would be the wiser.

Except, as he learned too late, the class was not in a large lecture hall or being held in a large classroom. He yanked the door open and discovered that the twenty-person class was sitting seminar-style around a large table. They all looked up at Tony and his grand entrance. In the middle of his lecture, the grey haired professor noticed Tony and wordlessly directed him to an empty seat at the far end of the room. 

He bumped and stumbled his way down to his seat, mumbling apologies as he went. He slid into the empty seat, whacking the guy sitting nearby with his leather messenger bag. Tony turned to say sorry and gulped when he realized he knew the guy.

It was _Steve_. 

He had hit big, beautiful Steve, that guy he had been looking for all last semester, with his bag and really hard too. And Steve seemed rather angry that Tony was sitting next to him. Except that Tony figured out that he had stepped on Steve’s foot as well. He wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole.

And then it got worse, because the prof expected them to discuss the assigned readings for the class. Which of course, Tony had no idea about, much less read. A few of the class members started spiritedly discussing the events leading up to the start of World War II. Including Steve, who talked about it like he actually lived in 1935 or 1939 or something like that. Tony wasn’t clear on his dates.

Finally class was over. And Steve collected his notes, packed them away in his red backpack, and left without even so much as a glance in Tony’s direction. This was probably the best he could hope for, given the ill-advised pass he’d made at Steve at that party back in December, and then what happened today. Before he could dwell on it too much, the professor called him over to discuss how he could get caught up on his class assignments and reading.

~~~~~

Pepper was on a mission in the Arts building, dragging a complaining Tony in her wake. “Seriously, Pep, this class is the lowest of the low. We have to do a 25 page paper.”

“Uh huh,” she replied distractedly as she checked another door.

“You don’t understand. We have to hand in a bibliography, proposal, drafts nearly every other week. And we have to discuss the class readings. There are even online quizzes.” Although if pressed, Tony would have to admit he liked the quizzes because he had a 100% average.

She checked her slip of paper with the directions again. “They told me Professor Anderson was on this floor. Room 322,” she said with a slight frown. “Aren’t you a speed reader with a nearly eidetic memory?” 

“That’s not the point,” he answered. “It’s a lot of time I could be spending in the lab. Or doing something a lot more fun. Unlike Steve, who apparently loves this class.”

“Steve,” she replied, with a sympathetic look. “Damn, Tony.” Tony had filled her in about what had happened at Jan’s party.

“I can’t escape. Everyone in that class is acting like it’s kindergarten and we have assigned seats. Not that Steve’s said a single word to me yet.”

“Have to say that I appreciate the irony,” Pepper observed. “Hey, that’s the room.”

Tony shifted gears. “Why do you want to spend next year in Barcelona?” he asked, already knowing the answer, yet always hoping for a different response. Acting uninterested, he took out his phone.

“Because I want to study art and the business of selling art and I like our Study Abroad program there. Wish me luck.”

As he waited for Pepper to get her signature for her study abroad program paperwork, Tony wandered over to a wall covered with studio art exercises grouped by class. He particularly liked three sketches of an apple, a vase and a banana on a table. He couldn’t quite make out the signature – Stagers? Strogen? -- in the corner. He checked his phone again, glad that Bruce finally texted him about meeting up later.

Pepper emerged triumphant from the professor’s studio. “Let’s celebrate,” she said, dragging Tony away. “I’m going to Spain in the fall!”

“Yah,” Tony replied less enthusiastically.

~~~~~

Despite his stiff politeness, Steve intrigued Tony, who was still trying to forget he ever had a crush on Steve. But it was hard, especially on the days when Steve arrived freshly showered and smelling faintly of musky aftershave. Steve obviously wore clothes because he had to wear something out in public. He had a personal uniform – faded and worn jeans, a structureless sweater or a shirt, sneakers or work boots. One class, he pulled out a moleskin notebook by accident instead of the usual spiral one. Tony caught a glimpse of sketches filling the pages before Steve shoved it back into his backpack. Then there was the time he had paint under his fingernails. Tony only noticed because Steve passed him a stack of papers.

He told Pepper and Rhodey about Steve, what he was doing in class, and what his class project was, because even though Steve wasn’t talking to Tony, he clearly loved talking about World War II, and that it looked like Steve’s familiar red backpack had a hole in it. He was starting to think that maybe Steve wasn’t a business major. Pepper rolled her eyes at him.

It was pure misery for Tony to pull himself out of bed in the morning during February when it was either snowing or bitterly windy or terribly cold. One Tuesday morning was particularly awful, with the promise of a heavy snowstorm in the air and the beginning of a spitting, freezing rain. Tony’s head was stuffy and his nose sniffly with an impending cold. He could not care less about Occupied France and yet, he had to lead class discussion. He much rather talk about the latest developments in theoretical physics, which was his afternoon class. 

Class was sparse since others had clearly opted to stay in and the professor fretfully watched the deepening grey skies. Uncharacteristically, Steve was late and had coffee with him. Tony’s mouth watered as he smelled the wonderful warm scent of a cinnamon-laced coffee creation. He kept looking down at the cup covetously.

Steve pushed the coffee over to Tony and said in a low voice, “You need this more than I do.”

Surprised, Tony thanked him gratefully. Steve’s hand even brushed Tony’s as Tony picked up the cup. Then he was prompted by the professor to start the discussion. “Okay – Vichy France – bad idea or worst idea?” Tony cheerfully began, fueled by coffee.

Just before class ended, Tony noticed that Steve was checking his phone under the table. The phone was in terrible shape with a broken screen and held together by tape and rubber bands. Steve saw a text and frowned. He started to gather up his notes and photocopied readings. 

The professor ended the class early and sent them off into the freezing rain. Tony waited to say thank you to Steve with an offer to buy replacement coffee. But Steve was gone.

~~~~~

At the beginning of March, Tony realized he had two and a half months left to talk Pepper out of going to Spain. He did not have an organized plan other than to point out terrible things about Barcelona. Pepper just laughed it off, saying that Barcelona was a modern city with a distinct lack of plague. She in turn reminded Tony that he and Rhodey needed to find another roommate for their apartment. 

But then he struck gold with his latest idea. He’d convince Pepper to change her plans because they would go to Ibiza for spring break. He had dreamed it up at the last minute since he, Pepper, Rhodey and Jan already had tickets to Miami Beach. Hank apparently had some odd allergy to sun and fun, so he dropped out. Bruce was going on an Alternative Spring Break trip somewhere to work on clean water projects, which he was very excited about.

So Tony spent the morning looking up tickets to Ibiza and hotels and was absolutely convinced that’s where they would be going the week after next. Jan would love it -- she’d been talking about going for a while now and Rhodey would go wherever Tony wanted. He walked into his history class on a cloud. 

At class, everyone was talking about their upcoming Spring Break plans. Except Steve, who was listening to everyone else, especially the sandy-haired woman to his left who was going to Cancun with her sorority. Tony wondered what was up with that. Was Steve going anywhere for Spring Break, even if it was mucking about water like Bruce? Or was Steve just being super secretive? What was so special about Sorority Chicky that Steve hung on every word? Wasn’t Tony going to Ibiza more interesting than Cancun? 

As the class droned on, Tony kept returning to why Steve always seemed to pay attention to everyone else not named Tony. It all had to do with Tony’s behavior at that party. Or maybe Steve just liked women, not men, which meant that Tony really did embarrass himself horribly in at Jan’s party. Tony slunk out of class.

After spending a few hours with Bruce in the lab, he returned to the apartment late at night and found Pepper in deep discussion with Natasha. Somehow Pepper had become friends with beer-pong playing Nat at the beginning of the semester. And Nat spent time at their apartment a lot. Tony regarded her with some suspicion especially since she wasn’t instantly bowled over by Tony’s immense charm.

He flopped down on the couch next to Pepper. And listened as Pepper and Nat talked about Jan’s upcoming party. Pepper nudged him. “You’re coming Friday night, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Nat mentioned a dozen other people coming, including Clint, who happened to be one of her best friends on campus. “But Steve can’t -- he’s insanely busy this semester with work and that project he’s been working on. I can’t drag him out of his room for anything these days.” She turned to Tony. “You’re in Steve’s history class?”

“He sits next to me,” Tony replied. 

“He’s mentioned you a couple of times.” Nat pulled out her phone. “Got to go. I’ll swing by tomorrow to pick you up for the movie, Pepper.” She stood up to leave and was halfway to the door.

“Hey, wait -- Steve talks about me?” But either Nat couldn’t hear him or was ignoring him as she left for wherever she had to go. Confused and intrigued he asked, “Do you know anything about this?”

“No. Didn’t hear anything before,” Pepper replied, just as curious.

“Hmmm.” Tony tugged at his shirt hem, just thinking. “Hey, I told everyone we’re all going to Ibiza for Spring Break.”

“Tony, no,” she said exasperatedly. “Rhodey and I can’t afford that. Plus we have tickets for Miami Beach and have a deposit on the hotel. So, no Ibiza. And please tell me you didn’t buy plane tickets already.”

“It’s a great idea!” he protested. “Ibiza can be fun!”

“That’s what you said about Miami Beach.” She patted Tony’s shoulder. “Next year -- when I’m in Spain you and Rhodey can fly out to see me and we’ll have a blast.”

Tony grumpily turned on the television. What was he going to do when Pepper went to Spain? On the other hand, Steve told his friends that Tony was in his class. Tony was not sure that this bit of news outweighed his impending loss of Pepper.

~~~~~

Back from Miami Beach with a tan and a three day hangover, Tony nearly sleepwalked into history class. He hoped to get through class with the least amount of participation he could get away with. Because he was not up for class at all. His body might be present but his mind was still at the last killer party dancing with some very nice-looking and exciting people.

“Have a good time?” Steve’s warm voice broke through the haze in Tony’s brain. Steve had caught up to Tony on his way to class.

Tony tried to focus on Steve. “Yeah.” Then he realized that Steve was wearing a suit. It was off-label, the seams had been let out to fit Steve, but it was a suit. And Steve looked very very good in it. Good enough to lick.

“Is today suit day and no one told me?” Tony blurted out. “Because if it is suit day, I’m seriously underdressed.”

Steve laughed. “No -- not suit day. Ready to talk Patton and Italy?”

“No, but if Patton invaded Miami, I could talk about that ….”

“You’ll do fine,” Steve said encouragingly. Tony stopped in his tracks, feeling suddenly stronger and courageous. Steve couldn’t possibly have that effect on him.

Later, over coffee and laptops, Tony wondered if he could tell Bruce about Steve in a suit. Class had gone well enough and the professor really liked the progress he was making on his paper. He looked over at Bruce, who was sketching out calculations on a napkin. “Saw Steve today -- he was all dressed up in a suit.” Because Steve in a suit was amazing.

Bruce didn’t look up from his napkin. “Hmmm. Maybe he went to the internship fair on campus today.”

“Oh, didn’t pay attention to that,” Tony admitted. 

“Working for your dad again?” Bruce tapped his pen against his lips, studying his calculations. He turned back to typing on his laptop.

“Yeah,” he replied distractedly. “I have a spot in Stark R&D if I want. But I’m trying to line something up here during the summer. Yinsen could use the lab help. Plus I have the apartment over the summer.”

“Maybe you could come with me to Culver? I’m taking classes there this summer.”

Culver was in the middle of nowhere Virginia. Not much different than Grayburn being in the middle of nowhere New York. So, not an improvement to take classes there. “I’ll consider it,” Tony said noncommittally.

Bruce kept typing. Then he paused, looking over the rims of his glasses. “Do you think your parents will let you stay here?”

“Eh. I’ve got a plan to spring the news on them when it’s too late to stop me.” Tony smiled. “I’m going to win this time.”

~~~~~

Tony was in the lab all day running tests and compiling data. He was completely unaware of his mother’s multiple calls until Rhodey pulled him out of the lab and made him check his phone. Tony stood in the corridor listening in increasing horror to his mother’s messages about his father’s massive heart attack and a plea for Tony to come to the hospital. He looked up helplessly at Rhodey.

He had no idea how he got back to the apartment. Dumbstruck, he sat in stillness on the couch as Pepper rushed around him, piling up clothes, packing up an overnight bag, fielding phone calls. The activity swirled around him and involved a lot of ‘what are we going to do with Tony’ arrangements, but his mind was far away in Manhattan. He kept reading over and over a series of text messages from his mother.

His dad could die from the heart attack. It was that serious. His mother had not minced words when she texted. “Howard in hospital. Will have open heart surgery ASAP. Come home. New York Presbyterian University, Columbia.”

Tony would have left already in the Audi just with the clothes on his back. But kind Rhodey stopped him. “You can’t do this on your own.” And Pepper stepped in to call his professors and help out as best she could.

Rhodey returned from whatever errand Pepper sent him on. He settled down on the couch next to Tony. “Okay, I found someone to drive you down to the hospital. I can’t get out of my ROTC class tonight, but as soon I’m free, I’ll be on my way down.”

“I’ll come along too,” Pepper replied. “Who did you find?” she asked Rhodey.

“Steve. I called Natasha, who asked Clint, who found out that Steve was free. He’s from Brooklyn and knows how to get to the hospital.”

Tony gulped and finally surfaced from his thoughts. “Steve?”

“Yeah. He’ll be here in a few minutes to pick you up. Are you okay with him driving your car? He has his own car.” Rhodey didn’t seem to have much faith in Steve’s car the way he mentioned it. He rubbed circles into Tony’s back.

Tony didn’t have the energy to protest about Steve. Or even say anything. All he could think about was that his father could die at any time and that he might not get to see him. He leaned into Rhodey.

Steve arrived at the apartment door. He was in the usual sweater and jeans uniform with a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder. “Pepper?” he asked. “Where’s Tony?”

“Oh, thanks, Steve,” Pepper replied gratefully. “Come on, Tony.” She tugged him gently to his feet. “Thanks, Steve. I have an exam I can’t postpone and Rhodey has ROTC. Tony’s in no state to drive and he needs to get to New York as soon as possible.” 

Tony felt like a package wrapped and ready to be shipped. Pepper gave a set of directions to Steve about handling Tony, including Maria Stark’s phone number. “Ready to go, Tony?” Steve asked.

Rhodey had the car gassed up and waiting outside the apartment. Pepper and he hugged Tony and promised to be down as soon as they were free. Then Rhodey loaded Tony into the car and gave the keys to Steve.

Steve was a very good driver, Tony thought, as they set off for the four-hour drive to Manhattan. They didn’t talk much for the first hour or so. Steve turned on the radio to some oldies station. Tony stared out the window, thinking and worrying about what he was going to find at the hospital. It was probably for the better that he wasn’t driving given how distracted he was.

“It will work out, Tony. The doctors at Presbyterian are very good,” Steve said reassuringly.

“Why? Were you ever there?”

“My mom worked there for a couple of years. She was an operating room nurse.”

“Oh.” So much for thinking that Steve’s mom was a stay-at-home mother who did a lot of volunteer work.

“If they got your dad to the hospital as soon as he had the heart attack, the chances are very very good that he’ll survive.”

“Are you pre-med?” Tony asked.

“Not exactly. Never was interested in working in hospitals after spending a lot of time in them. I had bad asthma when I was a kid.”

They ended up talking about Brooklyn and Manhattan, about the apartments Steve grew up in, the other homes Tony’s parents owned. The conversation petered out after awhile. Tony remembered things about his dad. It’s not like he had this great relationship with Howard at all. But he thought about the fun family vacations, the times he and his dad worked on projects together, the science fairs and the celebratory dinners afterwards, the way that Howard clapped his shoulder, all the good stuff. 

He looked over Steve, a slight curve on his lips, lost in his own thoughts. There was something wonderfully solid about Steve, like a rock. Tony couldn’t quite put his finger on it. But just sitting here in the car with Steve was completely different from being with Pepper who would be asking a thousand questions and making plans into the next month or Rhodey trying to buck him by reminding him how important family is and that Howard was too stubborn to die. He loved his friends to bits and pieces but he was just overwhelmed right now. Steve in his comforting silence was the perfect companion on the drive.

Tony’s phone rang. Maria on the other end asked, “Where are you?”

“On my way down.”

“When will you get here?”

Tony saw Steve mouth 9 o’clock. “9,” Tony replied.

“Find me in the surgery waiting room. Your dad should be out by then.”

Tony hung up the phone. “My mother. She’s worried. Makes her crabby.”

“Understandable. Do you need me to drive faster?” Steve was already speeding along at 80 on the rural highway. 

“She said he should be in recovery by the time we get there.”

Steve smiled. “That’s good news.”

“Could you change the station? If I hear ‘Sugar Pie Honey’ one more time --”

“What do you want?”

“Anything else -- just not talk radio, pop or EDM. Maybe rock -- like Black Sabbath.”

Steve gave him a side-eye. “Never thought of you as hair band fan.”

“I’m full of surprises. And Black Sabbath is not a hair band. You’re thinking of 80s rock. But considering that you’re stuck in the 50s and 60s.”

“It’s safe music,” Steve replied. “I don’t know what people might like when I turn the radio on. Most people are okay with Motown so I stick with the oldies.” 

“That’s being overly polite, you know. I play the music I like and people can deal with it or not.”

“Guess that’s one way of doing things,” Steve observed.

They arrived at the hospital around 9 just like Steve predicted. He dropped Tony off at the entrance and went to park the car. Tony found his mother flipping through magazines in the waiting room. He had no idea that she owned jeans, much less would wear a pair in public. Looking exhausted, she smiled and reached out to hug Tony. “I’m so glad you’re here.” 

“Any news?”

“No,” she sighed. “He went into surgery late so they’re still working on him.”

Tony sat down next to Maria and her piles of magazines on the hard chairs. Pepper had packed his backpack with homework and some comics for the wait. But no food. He pulled out his lab notes to review his latest robot tests. Steve finally showed up. And Tony was immediately embarrassed when his mother gave Steve a once-over look. “Hi, Steve,” he said.

“This is the guy who drove you down here?” Maria asked, pushing her thick salt-and-pepper hair back.

“Steve, this is my mother, Maria Stark,” Tony said.

“Mrs. Stark,” Steve acknowledged.

“Nice to meet you, Steve. You know, you probably should get something to eat, Tony. It’s late,” Maria suggested, nudging him with her foot. She looked back at Steve speculatively.

“Come on, Tony, I know where it is.”

Tony got up. He turned to Maria and asked, “You’ll let me know if there’s any news.”

“Of course, dear. Run along.”

Steve took Tony down to the cafeteria where they claimed a table. They tried to do homework. But Tony kept checking his phone in case his mom texted him an update. They traded history papers and ate slightly warm fries. 

A nurse in scrubs with a tray filled with food walked past them, stopped, and asked, “Stevie? Is that you?”

Steve sat up straight. “Mrs. Rodriguez?” Steve replied.

“Steve! So good to see you. How is college?” she asked. Steve and the nurse made small talk, catching up the news, how Steve was doing, how her kids were doing and where she working.

Then she hugged Steve. “I was just thinking of Sarah the other day. You look a lot like her. She was a wonderful woman and a good friend.” She mussed Steve’s hair fondly.

“Thanks, Mrs. Rodriguez.”

“Stay in touch. Good luck with the art.”

Tony looked quizzically at Steve. “Art?” he asked. He had so many questions about the increasingly mysterious Steve. But asking the art question was the easiest place to start.

Steve shrugged. “I’m majoring in studio art.”

“I thought you were a business major,” Tony said in shock. “Never thought you were into art at all.”

The other man laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn’t -- but that’s not something I’d ever do. It’s art or history for me.”

Tony sulkily poked at the fries left on his plate. “I don’t think it’s that bad a guess.” He looked up at a gently smiling Steve. “I’m majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Or that’s what we’re calling it. I’m kind of doing all sorts of science-y engineering things actually.”

“I know,” Steve replied enigmatically. “I’ve heard all sorts of things about you.”

“What sort of things?” Tony asked. Steve’s eyes were a brilliant blue in the cafeteria lighting, his awful sweater hinting at the muscular toned body underneath. What did Steve look like under his clothes? Tony immediately felt ashamed that he was starting to think like this with his father having open heart surgery.

Steve teased, “I’ve heard that you’re the college resident genius, that you’re fascinated by robots and that you aren’t allowed to compete in robotics competitions since you’d beat out everyone else, and that you drink your weight in coffee every day.”

“I don’t drink that much coffee,” Tony insisted.

“Really?” Steve tapped the nearly empty cup at Tony’s elbow.

Before Tony could reply, Maria texted him that Howard was now out of surgery. “Good news,” he told Steve. “We got to go back upstairs.”

The next afternoon, Rhodey and Pepper arrived at the hospital and found Tony asleep on Steve’s shoulder in the ICU waiting room. Steve whispered to Tony to wake up. Groggily, Tony said hello to the group and how glad he was to see everyone. Rhodey and Pepper exchanged looks and Rhodey went off to collect coffee.

While Steve packed up his stuff, Tony said, “Thanks for coming along. That was really nice of you.”

He nodded, “I know what it’s like when one of your parents is sick. My mom had cancer for a long time.” Steve checked around his seat.

“You could stay if you wanted. We’d like the company,” Tony said hopefully. He was going to miss Steve.

He shook his head. “I have to catch a bus back to college. I have work and other stuff. Let me know how it works out, Tony.” He squeezed Tony’s shoulder and left.

~~~~~

The rest of the semester went by quickly and ended on a whimper, not a bang. After a couple of days, Maria had sent Tony back to school, saying that it wasn’t necessary for him to stay around or give up his weekends, especially with his dad recovering nicely. And any rate, she expected Tony to come home in a month.

Once things were sort of back to normal, Bruce offered to move into Tony’s apartment as the replacement for Pepper. Tony was ecstatic, even if Rhodey was less so. Rhodey expressed concerns about what he was likely to find in the refrigerator or in the living room. But Tony only laughed. He didn’t think that he would get up to too much trouble with Bruce at home when they had whole labs at their disposal.

But things were much less settled with Steve. He asked after Tony’s dad and they talked a little before and after class. Tony saw Steve at some of the end of semester parties but one of them was either going or coming. And then they all had finals and projects and papers due, and Tony was up to his neck in lab work. But he had high hopes for next semester.

Tony said good luck to Pepper on her way to Spain. He shared a few beers with Rhodey before he caught a plane to Atlanta. And finally Tony threw a crate of books and papers into his trunk and set off for Manhattan. He couldn’t really turn down the internship his recovering-from-heart-surgery father had arranged for him in Stark R&D for the summer. He’d worked there before and he liked the scientists and researchers. And it didn’t help much when his mother called to ask when he would be coming home for the summer. All set to tell her about his plans to stay at Grayburn with a promise to visit often to see Howard, Tony caved when he heard the worry and concern in his mother’s quivering voice. He could never say no to his mother when she needed him.

Three months and a bit in Manhattan. What could go wrong? He’d lived through worse.


	3. Summer Internship, Part One

A week on the job and Tony had already staked out his own little kingdom in R&D near the intern bullpen. He showed up for his ‘internship’ at Stark Industries with three coffee mugs and a new laptop that he snagged from a trip through the consumer electronics division office. His official title was Intern, even if he had worked in the family business since he could code. He loved working with the R & D engineers, researchers, and coders and everyone knew him.

Except for the snotty intern from Virginia Tech who apparently did not get the memo not to hassle the Tony when he is in the middle of analyzing equations. Bleary-eyed, he glanced up at the lanky man leaning against his cubicle wall.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be wearing a badge? And there’s a dress code too,” Josh said.

Tony ran a hand over his face. There was always one of these guys at work. He did not have the time for this garbage. So he waved his badge at the guy and kept his focus on his equations. He didn’t feel the need to address the fact that he was in jeans and a worn t-shirt.

Josh lingered, not getting the hint. “Are you working on the drone program?”

For all intents and purposes, Tony was the drone program this summer. “Uh huh,” he replied. It was already two pm and he wanted to finish his prep before starting to code. 

“Are you up for that? Considering you’re from Grayburn ….”

Groan. This guy was unbelievably obtuse for an engineer wanna-be. Before Tony could come up with a withering comeback, the chief engineer ran up. “Hey, Tony, we need you to check the calibration of the wind tunnel model. It’s not working right.”

Tony jumped into action and pushed past the shocked Josh. “Yep. I’ll get right on it.”

It was going to be a long long summer.

~~~~~

Now that the panic of the spring was behind him, Howard was speedily recovering. He spent an hour or two at Stark Industries and then the rest of the day at the Fifth Avenue apartment, mostly glued to the phone or laptop. Howard and Maria were taking long weekends at their East Hampton cottage, leaving Tony to his own devices.

At home, Tony had a harder time navigating around his father and his demands than at college. He pushed the broccoli around his plate as Howard asked about the drone program during dinner.

“So how’s the progress going?”

“Good. I’m starting on testing some of the redesigns next week,” Tony replied.

Howard steepled his fingers. “Do you have an estimated timeline for when we can demonstrate the technology to our Air Force and Army contacts?”

Tony pursed his lips. “Six to eight weeks, I think. I’ll have the prototypes built by then.”

“I’m depending on those redesigned drones. A good solid sale of several units to the Pentagon would be very good for the bottom line,” Howard continued.

“You know, I have some ideas about the new StarkPhone. With some new features – I could figure those out – we could make a killing.” Tony held his breath waiting for his dad’s response. He was hoping to demonstrate the new software he designed.

Howard shook his head. “We’ll make a lot more with the drones. Stick to that, Tony.”

Sensing a fight brewing, Maria interrupted. “Tony, are you going to come down with us to the Hamptons this weekend?”

“Depends on what I get done at work. I can always drive down on my own.” Tony saw a lot of hours at Stark R&D in his future.

~~~~~

Later that night, Clint texted Tony out of the blue about getting together with some friends on Friday night. Tony replied that he didn’t think he had the night free but thanked Clint for the invite.

Eventually, Tony’s options for Friday night boiled down to either driving to the Hamptons for the weekend, putting up with the rotten traffic and then being stuck with his parents, or hanging out with Clint and supermarket beer on a rooftop in Queens. Desperation drove Tony to try to find anyone anywhere who he could make plans with, maybe clubbing or a bar crawl. He had an excellent fake i.d. going to waste in his wallet.

Jan made the decision for him. “What do you mean that you’re not going to Clint’s?” she asked over the phone.

“Look. It’s Clint and I’d much rather watch paint dry than spend Friday night in Queens.”

“He’s invited anyone we know from Grayburn who’s in town. I’m going, so you have to.”

“So if this turns out to be the bad idea I know it will be, we can go out afterwards somewhere a lot cooler.”

Tony could almost hear Jan roll her eyes over the phone. “Sure, fine, we could do that. But you’re not going to regret it,” she teased. “Clint’s party is going to be a lot better than you think.”

Clint was subletting a three bedroom apartment with Natasha and random other people in a small apartment building. When Tony arrived with Jan, there was already a large gathering of people on the rooftop deck. Clint was lording it over the beer pong table daring people to take him on. The weird thing was that Jan already seemed to know everyone there as Tony found when she introduced him around. She eventually left him in the company of a tall dark-haired woman named Jessica.

He turned on his charm, planning to tough it out for a couple of hours until he could flee for somewhere less rooftoppy and more club-like. Despite his sparkling personality, Jessica was less than impressed with him and left. On his own again, Tony went for a beer. Head in the cooler, he heard people greet Steve as he arrived.

Steve? His Steve? He turned around and saw it was indeed his Steve in tan shorts, a worn blue t-shirt, and sandals. After carefully setting down his backpack in a corner, Steve fist bumped Clint and stationed himself by the beer pong table. Steve looked mouth-watering delicious in the light of the deck lanterns and in the shorts that showed off his amazing legs.

Before he could say something to Steve, Jan dragged Tony off to talk to Natasha, to show him the latest texts and tweets from Hank in his lab back at college, and to do a quick snack run for more chips and pretzels. Once freed from Jan’s orbit, Tony thought about leaving for greener pastures and, distracted, bumped into a tall man. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

The man stuck out his hand. “Hi, I’m Sam Wilson.”

“Tony Stark,” Tony replied, shaking the man’s hand.

“Ohhh, so you’re the famous Tony,” Sam said with a broad smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.” He clapped a curious Tony on the back. “Come on, let’s go bug Steve about challenging Clint at pong.”

“Steve?” Tony asked, completely bewildered. Sam steered him towards the table.

“Yeah, Steve can get pretty competitive. He beats Clint regularly at all sorts of games and he’s actually managed to beat Clint at pong a couple of times.”

Sam deposited Tony at the pong table next to Steve. “Look who I found,” Sam said to Steve.

“Hey, Tony, haven’t seen you since finals,” Steve said. He smiled at Tony. “Clint said you might not make it.”

“Here now,” Tony said. He was suddenly tongue-tied in Steve’s quiet but formidable presence. Words never failed Tony, ever. Yet Steve was looking at him like he was glad to see Tony more than anyone else. The thought was frying Tony’s brain.

“Hey, Clint, wanna bet that Steve can beat you with one arm tied behind his back?” Sam shouted.

“Hey,” Steve protested, shaking his head. But Sam and Natasha pushed Steve forward. Sam remained at Steve’s side egging on the crowd while Clint set up the next round of cups.

Tony ended up being stuck at the table for the rest of the evening sandwiched between Sam and the crowd. Sam was right about Steve not turning a challenge down. And he did beat Clint at couple of games of pong. All that meant though, was that Tony never got the chance again to talk to Steve. 

Suddenly the party was over before Tony found the right excuse to get Jan to leave with him. Almost everyone said that they had jobs to go to or plans in the morning. Sam draped an arm around Tony’s shoulder when Tony said goodnight to Clint. “So you’re going to be here for Clint’s next party in a couple of weeks?”

“I think I have plans,” Tony said. He wasn’t going to subject himself to the Sam-and-Steve show again or Clint’s beer.

“Come on, man, can’t disappoint Steve, right?” Sam countered.

“No. Can’t do that,” Tony replied noncommittally. He was not going to be guilted into hanging with Clint and his friends again. He’d figure something out when the time came.

Tony looked back to see Steve helping Natasha, Clint and Sam clean up after everyone. Then Steve saw him and waved at him, a beautiful smile on his face. Tony’s stomach did a back-flip. No matter what lies he told himself, he still wasn’t over his big crush on Steve. Maybe he would never be.

~~~~~

Howard came to R&D in time to watch Tony conduct experiments in the Stark Industries wind tunnel. The wind tunnel in question was a sealed room on a different floor from R&D. Tony and a few engineers were putting Tony’s redesigned drones through their paces. Tony’s goals for his experiments were simply to gather data on how his drones handled wind speeds and direction.

Tony was in the middle of reviewing data from the first set of tests, sitting surrounded by monitors and a couple of other interns working furiously. Howard arrived with an entourage of top-level executives and the head of R&D struggling to keep up with him.

“Tony,” Howard said warmly. “How is it going?”

“Not bad.” He pulled together some printed spreadsheets with initial data to show Howard. “The drone is holding up well. Once we’ve determined the upper limits of the wind it can take, I can start working on the accuracy. My projections are looking at 98% accuracy in heavy wind …”

“You’ll get it to 100%, right?” Howard stated.

“There are a lot of moving parts to this and I’m considering –“

Howard repeated, “You’ll get this to 100%, right? Because I’ve told General Shockowski that’s what we’re selling.”

Tony slumped in his chair, glancing at the data he’d collected. “Yeah, of course, 100% accuracy all the time.”

~~~~~

Tony was up to his neck in drone data when Natasha texted him about meeting up with her, Jessica, Clint, Sam and Steve for a movie on Saturday. In a moment of weakness earlier in the week, he said he’d go. He totally forgot the whole thing until she texted him a time and place to meet up.

He had no idea why he agreed. He had options, real options. Jan was down in the Hamptons for a long weekend and his old friend Ty Stone from his boarding school was in town too. But here Tony was waiting to buy popcorn with Natasha. He didn’t even have an idea what movie they were seeing except that Steve and Sam were excited about it and Clint mentioned offhand that they couldn’t all get together the night before when the movie opened. So he guessed it was the latest summer blockbuster they were seeing.

Sam herded them into the theater and somehow Steve ended up sitting right next to Tony in one row while the others were in a completely different row. Tony took out his phone to check for messages.

Steve offered him popcorn. “They’ll ask you to turn off the phone.”

“I’ve got a series of important tests I’m running on Monday. I’m going into work all day tomorrow to get ready,” Tony replied with a frown. “I’m just checking in with my team.”

“What are you doing?”

“We’re running drone tests upstate on a test strip we own. I’m expecting some problems, but I don’t want anything to happen that means a complete reworking of the schematics.” Encouraged by Steve’s clear interest, Tony went on to describe the project and what he was doing for work this summer. They talked clear through the previews, only stopping when the movie began.

Afterward, they all went out for pizza. On the way to the pizza place, Sam and Steve with waving hands and laughter energetically discussed something not clear to anyone else. Steve pulled out a small notebook and wrote down whatever Sam was saying.

Feeling suddenly jealous, Tony studied Sam and Steve. They had an easy way of talking and a long familiarity. Tony had almost accepted that Steve would never be interested in him but for some reason he never thought of Steve dating someone. There was a lot to like about Sam, his jokes, his teasing, his storytelling, his warmth. He could get Steve to smile. Tony never hated himself more than when he watched Sam telling a story to a smiling and nodding interested Steve.

They piled into a corner booth at the pizzeria. Tony was pushed into the wall as Steve tried to squish more into the booth to give Jessica room to sit. Steve elbowed an unwary Tony, who yelped. “Sorry about that,” Steve said.

Tony croaked, “That’s okay.” Every little move Steve made took Tony’s breath away because Steve felt amazing pressed hard against Tony. Then Tony swore that Steve smirked at him. A smirk of all things!

That afternoon was one of the best times Tony ever had. They talked for hours about all sorts of things from the movie to web comics. Steve even let Tony sneak breadsticks off his plate and drink his soda.

He was surprised that it was nine pm by time his friends had to go their separate ways. Clint had a bartending job and Natasha was meeting up with some people from work. Sam and Steve were heading off somewhere. Tony figured he could skype Bruce in his Virginia lab. He needed to talk real science with someone.

Shoving her phone back into her bag, Natasha asked Steve, “So, are you coming to our place next Friday?”

Steve glanced over at Sam. “We’re still planning on it, but depends on how much we get done this weekend. We’ve got that con near Albany on Saturday.”

“Right, FanCon or something like that,” she said. “How about you, Tony? See you Friday?’

“Maybe, can’t guarantee anything.”

“You’ll be able to come to my party on the Fourth?” Sam asked.

Tony glanced over at Steve who seemed anxious about his answer. “Fourth of July party?”

“Yeah, at my mom’s. And it’s Steve’s birthday too.”

“Cake and fireworks, what more could you want?” Jessica pointed out.

“Hope you can make it, Tony,” Steve added with a shy smile.

It might be torture to see Steve with Sam, but maybe Tony could tough it out at the next party if he got to see Steve smile this much. “I’ll see what I can do. But no promises,” Tony said.

~~~~~

“So this means you won’t be joining us for Fourth of July?” Howard said.

Tony looked over the salad bowls and the grilled bass at his father. “Yep. My friends are having a party and I want to go.”

Maria passed him the rolls. “Is that lovely boy, Steve, going to be there?”

“Maybe,” Tony replied. All he knew for certain was that Sam asked him to bring snacks and show up around 3 pm and that it was Steve’s birthday.

“Who is this Steve?”

“He’s that kid who drove Tony down to the hospital when you had the heart attack,” Maria said. She sipped her wine and winked at Tony.

“You’re dating this Steve?” Howard asked.

Tony cringed. At the top of the list of things he never wanted to ever talk to Howard about was dating. “Steve’s a friend of a friend,” he deflected. “But if I’m in town, I can work on the drone program.”

“You’ll miss the Clays’ party,” Howard insisted, waving his fork in the air. “They love you, Tony, and their daughter is going to Princeton. You remember whats-her-name – she had a crush on you.”

“Her name is Kathy. Howard, I thought we had agreed that we wouldn’t discuss Tony’s dating life,” Maria said.

“We can’t just let the boy date just anyone, Maria. His future depends on it. A good wife makes a world of difference. What’s wrong with that Kathy?”

“She’s not Mr. Porn King 2014. I’d be more interested in dating _him_.”

“Tony,” Maria said in her Tony-not-helping tone. “Leave Tony alone. He’s been very good this summer, Howard, he hasn’t been in the gossip sites at all and he’s been working his heart out for you. It could be that his friends and this Steve are a good influence on him.”

“Hmmphh,” Howard grumped. “The drone program is on track at least.” He went back to tackling his fish.

After dinner Tony fled to the peace of his bedroom/workshop. He had gutted a Stark phone in preparation for experimentation when Maria showed up.

She ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head. “Are you sure about this party, Tony?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. Jan will be there.”

“That’s nice. Jan is a nice kid.” She sighed. “You would tell me if you were dating Steve, wouldn’t you?”

Tony shrugged. “Steve’s not interested,” he answered.

“Really? I’m surprised to hear that. I had a very different impression when we met.”

“Pepper asked him to drive me down, that’s all. He was just a good guy helping out,” Tony said.

“Have a good time at your party, pumpkin. And be good while we’re gone.”

“Or?”

“Or else,” Maria said with a laugh. “Don’t let your dad get you down. He just wants the best for you.”

Tony had serious doubts about that. For one thing, Howard already had ruined his summer with his expectations over the drone program. He wouldn’t put it past Howard to make his summer even more difficult if he could.


	4. Summer Intership, Part Two

The only reason Tony was going to Eastchester in the Bronx on Fourth of July was because Steve asked him. And because it pissed his father off. Howard had not stopped grumbling since Tony announced he was not going to the Hamptons with them. Tony only escaped the complaints and pointed comments by slipping away to his workshop and lying low until his parents left for the week. This party had better be worth the annoyance.

Armed against disappointment with only a bag of potato chips and his phone, Tony knocked on the door of Sam’s plain two-story house. Sam immediately threw the door open and shouted, “Come on in!”

Sam walked him through the well-kept home to the kitchen and out into a small screened-in porch. He introduced Tony to his mother, Ms. Wilson, as she preferred. She was playing a card game with her friends on the porch with a radio playing smooth jazz. “My mom is always here when I have a party,” Sam explained.

Clearly this party was not going to be the blow-out debauchery Tony had hoped for. 

Their friends filled the small backyard. Clint was examining a gas grill. Tony dropped his chips off at a patio table with an umbrella where Natasha was sitting with Jess and Carol, Rhodey’s friend from Grayburn. 

Steve appeared behind him with a tray of dips. “Glad you could make it, Tony,” he said.

“It was hard to fit into my busy summer schedule,” Tony joked. “But I had to make an exception if I wanted to see Clint grill hamburgers.”

“Is Jan coming?”

“Later. With Hank. He’s down from school for a few days.”

Sam and Clint got into a serious debate over grilling techniques. Steve rolled his eyes. “They’ve been like that for the past half-hour.”

“A man has to care about the quality of his burgers, thank you very much, you heathen,” Clint replied.

Steve put his tray down on the table and pulled up two folding lawn chairs up to the table for him and Tony. “Soda?” he asked as reached for a cooler nearby.

“Sure.” It was definitely going to be a dry party under Ms. Wilson’s watchful eye.

Sitting next to Steve, and soda in hand, Tony joined in the conversation. Natasha and Jess were debating the merits of a band they had seen the week before. Seeing the confusion stamped on Tony’s face, Steve nudged him. “I have no idea what they’re talking about either, but it beats Sam and Clint arguing over the grill.”

The afternoon turned out not so bad. Sam brought out some games, the snacks were good and plentiful, and everyone laughed a lot. Jan showed up, fashionably late, she claimed as usual, with Hank in tow. Clint manned the grill and turned out excellent burgers. 

After dinner, Sam brought out party hats and Ms. Wilson a red, white and blue cake. They sang happy birthday to Steve, who blushed from the attention. 

“Make a wish,” Jan prompted. Steve looked thoughtful and then blew out all the candles.

Sam thumped him on the back. “Never thought you could do that a few years ago, did you?”

“I had pretty bad asthma when I was a kid,” Steve explained to a wondering Tony.

Later on after cake, Sam broke out the Apples to Apples games. During a lull in the game, Natasha said, “Saw the update to the webcomic, Steve, nice work.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks. I worked hard on those panels. Sam’s script was very descriptive so that helped.”

“Webcomic?” Tony asked. 

“Yeah, Sam and I have been doing this webcomic about a D&D group for a couple of months. Sam’s great at writing stories.”

“You should check it out,” Jess said. “Phone. So you can read it later.” She tapped in the address after Tony handed over his phone. 

“You should see Steve’s art,” Sam said. 

“It’s really good,” Clint chimed in.

“It’s all Sam though. He had the story first.”

After the game ended and while the group argued over what game to play next, Steve nudged Tony. He asked quietly, “What to see some things I’m working on?”

Tony laughed. “What? Are you trying to lure me away to do something unspeakable to me?”

“Oh, um, not that,” Steve replied, a deep blush racing across his face. “Come on.”

He followed Steve upstairs to his room. “You live here?” Tony blurted out. Steve’s tiny bare room had practically nothing in it -- an air mattress on the floor, a table serving as a drafting table and desk, a storage bin serving as bedside table, a flat-pack bureau for his clothes and other belongings. Steve had taped drawings on the wall. Hermits probably had more in their desert cells than Steve had.

“I’m grateful that Ms. Wilson lets me stay here when I’m not in school. This is usually her office.”

“Um, don’t you have another place to stay? Like your mom’s or dad’s?”

Steve’s face crumpled a little. “I don’t have any other place to go. It’s here or school.”

Tony wondered about that. But something about Steve didn’t encourage further discussion. “So these are your drawings?” He studied the figures on the wall.

“Yeah. Those are sketches for the webcomic,” Steve said, standing directly behind him.

Tony saw landscapes, figure studies, fanart of comics and movie characters, and drawings of Steve’s friends. There was even one of Tony from their history class. “Wow, you do great work.”

“Thanks.”

Tony could feel how close Steve was behind him. If he stepped back, he’d bump right into him. His mouth ran dry at the thought of Steve putting one of those large hands of his on his arm. He needed to leave and now.

He stepped to the side and turned towards Steve. “We should go return to the party,” Tony said. But he was mesmerized by Steve’s blue eyes and inviting lips. 

“Yeah, we should. It’s going to get dark soon,” Steve replied. “Can’t miss the fireworks.” He smiled.

“Right, fireworks.” A shiver ran down Tony’s spine as Steve’s eyes swept over him. Did he imagine that? He had to have.

“When I was a kid, my mom always told me that the fireworks were for me because of my birthday.” Steve’s eyes flicked down to Tony’s lips and then back up to his eyes.

Tony stepped closer to Steve, feeling his warmth on his skin. “So, can we see them from here?”

“No, can’t -- we’ll have to watch on television,” Steve said, visibly swallowing. “Uh, Tony --”

He put his hand on Steve’s arm. “What?”

“Can -- can I kiss you?” Steve asked, his voice low.

The corner of Tony’s lips quirked up. Completely unreal that it was Steve asking him. “Yeah,” he said. He leaned up and pressed his lips against Steve’s. Steve closed his eyes. Nice, Steve’s lips felt nice against his, lovely, warm, just the right pressure. Elation flooded over him. He deepened the kiss, smiling against Steve when he heard Steve gasp in surprise. Steve put a hand on Tony’s waist.

Flushed and eyes bright, Steve broke off the kiss. “Guess we have to go downstairs,” he said reluctantly.

“We could stay up here,” Tony suggested. He’d kill to keep Steve’s hand on him.

“Maybe another time. Sam will come looking for us.”

Downstairs, everyone was crowding into the living room to watch the fireworks on television. Tony whispered to Steve at the bottom of the stairs, “We’ll do that again, right?”

Steve squeezed his hand. “Sure will.”

Party turned out perfectly, Tony thought, as the fireworks burst across the screen. Couldn’t have been better.

~~~~~

Tony walked on air for the rest of the week. Nothing could upset him. None of the drone performance failures, none of the snark from the intern bullpen, none of his father’s doubts, nothing. Steve’s sweet text messages gave him bulletproof armor against the bullshitters in his life.

He put in his time at Stark Industries, working hard at perfecting the drone program. Howard had set a firm date for presentation to his contacts at the Army and Air Force. Tony could feel the pressure knowing he had about seven weeks to have his drones ready for his dad. He wouldn’t be there for the presentation, even though Howard suggested it, since he had to go back to school.

And the next three weeks were just as good. Steve or one of their friends would text about going to see a movie or catch pizza or see a concert or one of Clint’s weekend parties. Sprung from the lab, Tony would catch up with his friends wherever they were. Steve would smile broadly when Tony arrived, thrilling Tony to no end. They would pair up at dinner and the movies, sneaking off to have a little private time.

Steve was amazing. That’s what he told Rhodey and Pepper during their regular Skype call and texts until they were sick of hearing it. Tony was in the middle of story about the latest wonderful thing Steve did when Pepper interrupted him. “Wait a minute, are you and Steve dating? Like he’s your boyfriend?”

Tony paused. “Guess so, maybe. We see a lot of each other. I’m going over to Clint’s tomorrow to play games with Steve.” He liked the sound of boyfriend. Boy-friend. “He’s the best thing ever.”

“That’s great news, Tony,” Pepper said. 

“So how’s Spain?” he asked. “There’s still time to come back to Grayburn.” He might have Steve now in his life, but he missed Pepper.

“Fantastic, and I’m looking forward to spending the next year here.” She told him about her apartment, her roommates, her travel plans and everything she planned to do and see. No hint of returning home any time soon.

With a sigh, Tony shut the cover of his laptop after Pepper had to sign off. He was already running late for work. He stowed his laptop into his backpack and slipped on his sneakers. On his way out the door, he decided to grab something for the road. 

His mother was at the kitchen table, with her toast, coffee, and tablet. “Good morning, Tony,” she said, snagging his arm as he hustled past her.

Tony kissed her cheek. “Hey, Mom.”

“About this weekend --

He froze at the coffee maker. He had plans, big plans for Steve and him. “Yeah?”

“We’re going to leave for the Hampton house on Thursday afternoon.”

“Oh, okay.”

“And we expect you to come with us this time.”

“Mom, I’ve got plans. With my friends.”

“Tony, you really should come with us. It’s time that you start meeting your Dad’s business partners. You know, the right people with the right connections.” She closed the cover of the tablet case and swiveled around to face him.

He leaned against the counter, travel mug in hand. His mother looked at him expectantly, a slight smile on her face. He forgot that she was as good as he was at charm and the personal appeal. “But, my plans ….”

“I’m thrilled that you have friends that you can spend time with. But right now, we need you to pitch in with helping the company. Your dad has a couple of parties with very important industry people this weekend, and a little networking and talking up Stark Industries would go a long way.”

“And what, take someone’s daughter out on a date or something like that?” he spat out.

Maria sighed and readjusted her white linen shirt. “No, Tony. I’m not expecting that. I am expecting you to promote the drone program.” She put her hands on her perfectly pressed tan linen pants, a silver ring flashing in the light, and leaned forward,. “No one, no one in our position can think that they can put out a product without any promotion and that product will sell like gangbusters.”

“We sell weapons, Mom, not coffee makers.”

“There’s competition in selling weapon systems. Hammer has been nipping at our heels for the past year. A lot is riding on us being able to sell those drones and software to the Army or Air Force. Whom would you prefer to have a multi-million dollar contract, us or Justin Hammer?”

Tony groaned. He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t like being manipulated.”

Maria laughed. Finishing off her toast, she stood up and took her dishes to the sink. She nudged Tony. “I promise to stop your dad from setting you up on dates.”

“Fine. It’s a deal.”

There was a time he loved going to the Hamptons. Anyone who was anyone wanted to be in the Hamptons, not stuck in the city. He could always find a party and fun people to hang out with. But Steve wasn’t going to be there that weekend and no place could be fun or interesting without Steve.

When he called to let Steve know the change in plans, Steve said, “Hey, I understand, Tony, your family needs you. Call or text if you get a chance during the weekend.”

Tony couldn’t tell enough people how great and perfect Steve was. Because he was.

~~~~~

At a get-together at Clint’s during the week, Tony sat with a beer in his hand and Steve’s arm around his shoulder. Steve was finishing his internship at a famous architectural firm -- Tony forgot where he was working exactly, except that his father pushed him to date one of the firm’s partner’s daughter. The date hadn’t gone well. Right now, nothing mattered much since he was sitting on a couch next to Steve. And Rhodey was coming to stay with him the week before classes started.

Jan suggested out of the blue that all of them spend the last weekend of the summer at her parents’ lake house in New Hampshire. “It will be great,” she said. “It’s big enough for all of us.”

“Not in a million years,” Tony automatically replied. He’d been to that house a few years ago, and there was no need to ever go back.

“Oh, come on, you’ll love it. Bring Rhodey if you want.”

“There were spiders larger than my head,” Tony stated.

Jan laughed. “You’re just angry because your dad wouldn’t let you buy out the local fireworks stand.”

“Had to defend myself against the herd of predatory spiders. I settled for the fireworks. I really needed C-4.”

“This would be a weekend?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, we go up Friday morning, come back late Sunday. Maybe Thursday night.” She waved her hand. “Depends. Steve wants to go, Tony. Are you going to disappoint your boyfriend?”

Tony turned to look at Steve’s shining eyes. “Fine, count me in. Steve has to defend me against the spiders.”

“I think I can do that,” Steve replied, giving Tony a squeeze.

~~~~~

Tony stood on the Stark airstrip with a drone in his hand, waiting for the signal to begin the trial. The original plan was for Tony, a few interns, and supervising engineers from R&D to conduct tests, like the trip they had done a month ago for the initial real-world tests. This trip was a trial of various drones built from different materials in different conditions.

But Howard had other plans. He swept onto the airstrip with an entourage of executives, Army contacts and a Congressman. Howard was at his absolute magnificent best, back to where he was before the heart attack. “Gentlemen and ladies, here is where the magic happens,” his father declared, arms sweeping out.

Tony rolled his eyes as he listened to Howard hype the drone program and Tony’s role. Apparently he had gone over like gangbusters at his father’s weekend parties at the Hamptons, because Howard actually seemed pleased with him. It bought Tony a couple of weekends of freedom. And a smile from Howard when Tony demonstrated his drone’s accuracy in the latest wind tunnel trials. 

Today kept up the theme of golden child Tony. Howard proudly introduced Tony to his entourage. Tony ended up spending valuable time during the morning describing the redesigned drone program, outlining the specs for three different versions of the drone and demonstrating models. Complete waste of time and Tony gnashed his teeth knowing his project had lost at least a half day because of his dad’s circus.

After lunch and supervising the set-up of the test site, Tony stopped by the on-site trailer to pick up some tools. As he was rummaging through a tool box for the right screwdriver, he overheard the R&D engineers complain about Howard disrupting the test.

One engineer said, “You know, we have to sell that drone to government. It could be a cash cow for years. So I know why he has to do it, but a little warning would help.”

“I keep hearing how important this contract is, but why?”

“That tracking satellite program failed, big time. You didn’t hear about that? Nearly the whole development team was fired after they failed to produce a single prototype. Stark lost a lot of cred with that one.” 

Tony leaned closer to the doorway to listen to the muffled voices. He didn’t know much about the satellite program. Howard had been gung-ho about the project for a couple of months, then stopped talking about it entirely.

The first engineer continued, “At least we have Baby Stark working on this program. Tony is saving our asses.”

Tony slumped. He had no idea how much was riding on this drone program. He liked the engineers and the interns (with one exception, Josh from Virginia Tech was still an idiot) he worked with. They were good people and worked hard. He didn’t want to be the one to let them down. He figured he could put in the extra work to make the drone as perfect as he could.

After the long tiring drive home, Tony arrived to an empty home, take-out in the refrigerator, and a note on the kitchen island. He sunk down on a bar stool in shock from the message.

“Tony -- Thanks for the impromptu presentation this morning. My visitors loved you, loved the drone. Well done, buddy. BTW -- remember the lease is up on your car so turn it next week and pick up the new BMW I picked out for you. Big love, Dad.”

Tony folded the note carefully and set it aside. The day had been full of surprises after all. With a new car to boot.

~~~~~

Even though he was cranky and distracted by the progress of the drone project, Tony had to admit that Jan had an excellent idea to spend a weekend at her family’s cabin. His friends were having a great time, swimming in the lake, sunning on the deck, going for hikes, joking around the firepit at night. Nearly everyone came except for Sam, who couldn’t get off work, and Hank, who didn’t want to leave the lab. The group was secretly relieved that Hank didn’t show up, except for Jan. 

Clint was enthralled with the immense gas grill on the back deck. He kept trying to get Tony interested in the grill’s awesome features while Tony reviewed his drone data on a lounge chair nearby. 

“We’re going to have to hide your phone and laptop if you keep that up,” Clint threatened. “You know it’s supposed to be vacation.”

“I’m having fun -- see, I’m outside and everything,” Tony replied. He liked it here on the deck, with the surprisingly excellent wi-fi and a cold beer. He refused to be annoyed by Clint.

“Hey, Tony, want to go swimming?” Steve asked.

Tony did a double-take at Steve in a dark blue swimsuit that clung to his sharp hips, his muscled shoulders and arms pink from a sunburn. How did he ever end up dating the most gorgeous man in the whole world? Drones could wait. “Yeah, sure. Let me get my suit.”

That’s how the afternoon passed. Tony sat on the dock with his feet dangling in the cold water watching Steve, Rhodey and Carol horsing around in the lake. Jan heaved herself onto the dock to sit next to him. “If you don’t go in, they’ll just drag you in later,” she warned.

“Yeah. Probably. Going to enjoy the view in the meantime,” Tony said.

“Steve’s a great guy,” Janet said. “He’s had such a tough life though.” She shook out her hair and retrieved her sunglasses from her tote bag on the dock.

Tony watched as Steve swam out with Rhodey to a platform floating in the lake a distance from the dock. He pulled himself up onto the platform and stood up. The water running down his broad chest and the wet swim trunks highlighted all his assets. Tony could watch that all day long. “Tough life?”

“Yeah, with both his parents dead and being on scholarship at school and working all the time. I don’t know how he does it.”

Carol joined Steve and Rhodey on the dive platform. Tony could hear their laughter floating back to the dock. A broad smile spread across Steve’s face as Carol pointed to something in the distance. Tony couldn’t quite believe what Jan was telling him.

“I didn’t --”

“I didn’t either! Sam told me and Natasha a couple of weeks ago. He also said that Steve doesn’t talk about it or about himself at all really. Holds everything in.” Jan stretched out under the afternoon sun. “I wish Hank was here.”

~~~~~

Late at night, Tony, in a blanket, cuddled against Steve as he poked at the fire pit to stir up the fire. The others had long gone either to bed or to the poker game going on in the kitchen. The night was cool and crisp, with a slight hint of the coming fall in it. Steve was warm enough to fight off the chill.

“Hey.” Tony nudged Steve. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Oh, I guess you heard that story too.” Steve sighed. “Yeah, my mom had cancer and it was pretty bad. I didn’t know my dad -- he moved out when I was very little and died when I was four. After my mom passed, I lived with my friend Bucky and his family.” He put his arm around Tony’s shoulders and pulled him closer. “You’d like Bucky. He’s in the Marines -- he enlisted right after high-school graduation.”

“Steve, that’s a lot for anyone.”

“Well, I guess you just gotta learn to live with it.” Steve squeezed Tony’s hand. “I try not to think about too much because it’s painful.”

“Yeah, but still --”

Steve kissed the top of his head. “Hey, it’s okay, Tony. We’ve all got stuff to deal with.”

Tony had questions but he noticed that Steve looked a little sad. “Shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“No, I should have told you. But it’s kind of nice to have someone around who doesn’t think of me as that poor orphan kid.” 

He wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Well, I wish things were different for you. ”

“Thanks, Tony.” Steve entwined his hand in Tony’s. “It’s beautiful tonight.” 

“Not enjoying it much right now. I’m cold,” Tony complained. 

“Really? Because we could fix that.” Steve shifted to face Tony. He lifted Tony’s chin in both hands, sliding his fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. Tony shut his eyes in anticipation. Steve pressed his lips lightly to Tony’s and pulled back to rest his forehead on Tony’s. “You’re the best thing going, Tony.”

“Stop.” Tony laughed. “You are.”

“Don’t. You --”

Interrupting Steve, he kissed Steve, his lips sliding against Steve’s soft lips. Steve deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue past his lips. Excited, Tony put his hand on Steve’s waist, caressing the warm skin. A shiver ran down his spine as Steve’s fingers tugged at his hair and his mouth pressed Tony’s lips, then his chin, then his jaw. Tony moved as close as he could and not lose balance on the log seat in the process. It wasn’t enough; he needed, wanted, had to be closer to touch every inch of Steve he could.

Tony slipped a hand under Steve’s worn t-shirt to feel his hard abs, his fingers brushing the skin. Steve gasped and bit Tony’s lip. “Like that?” Tony whispered hoarsely. His hand skimmed along Steve’s side up to his chest and his thumb flicked a nipple. Steve twitched and breathed out, “Oh.”

Encouraged, Tony shifted so that he could take off Steve’s shirt. He got tangled up in his blanket and the log dug into his ass. “Ow,” he snapped.

“Tony?” 

“Maybe we should take this somewhere more comfortable.” Tony unwrapped the blanket.

“I think -- I think that everyone is still up.”

“We still have blankets out here, right?” Tony stood up and collected a couple of the blankets left behind. 

Steve smiled. They laid blankets down over the grass beyond the fire pit. Settling down on the blankets, Steve pulled the largest blanket over them. “Better?” he asked as Tony snuggled against him.

“Just what I had in mind.” It wasn’t as comfortable as a couch, but Steve’s warm breath on his neck and hand on his thigh made up for it.

Steve kissed his nose, lips and neck. Blood raced through Tony when Steve’s large hands slid under his shirt and over his ass. “Okay?”

“Don’t stop. Ever,” Tony said. He gasped as Steve tugged him close. Tentatively he brushed Steve’s crotch and smiled at the hitch in Steve’s breathing. 

Steve rubbed circles on Tony’s hip and sucked hard on his collarbone, nuzzling against the reddened skin. Tony cupped Steve, dragging a low moan out of him, as Steve bucked against him. Tony smiled. “Feel good, baby?”

“Yeah,” Steve said hoarsely. His hand settled on Tony’s hips and pulled him firmly against his own. 

A warm, electric feeling flooded over Tony and he kissed Steve greedily, bucking against him, grinding. His heart beat faster as Steve flipped him over. He looked up at Steve propped up on his elbows, framed by the stars in the night sky, his blond hair gleaming in the moonlight. Steve was beautiful and warm and delicious. God, he was so hard and getting desperate for some friction. 

Steve gave him a bruising, hard kiss and pressed his hips into Tony’s. Tony moaned loudly as waves of pleasure splashed over him. He grabbed Steve’s arms, desperate to hold onto him. He wanted so much, tension spiraling in his gut. Steve slid a hand into Tony’s hair, kissing his cheek, under his jaw, along his neck.

Tony never felt so alive and real. “Come on, come on,” Tony urged. He kissed Steve’s sweat-slick collarbone, tugged on Steve’s hair and shoulders. He gasped with each movement, his cock hard and heavy. Steve breathed harshly as he fell in a steady, grinding rhythm. “Come on,” he repeated. His body shuddered as orgasm overwhelmed him.

Steve thrust against him a couple of times, groaning as he finally came. Tony’s hands slid across Steve’s back as Steve rolled to the side. A wonderful tiredness settled in his limbs as he tucked his head into the crock of Steve’s neck and Steve put his arms around him.

He could hear the late-night boaters shouting on the lake and feel a cool breeze on his heated skin. A rock poked into his hip. Steve mumbled something as he kissed Tony’s cheek one more time. Maybe it was about getting up and returning to the house. But Tony didn’t want to leave Steve’s warm arms. Tomorrow would come too soon, and the return to work and to school and all the stresses of their lives. 

“Just want to stay here,” he mumbled. 

“Anything you want, Tony,” Steve whispered back. “Anything.”


End file.
